Playing pool in the Philippines

galipeau said:
Thanks for sharing. I'm just wanting to have fun and hope I can get out and shoot a bit. Playing for cheap, I don't mind donating 20 bucks over the course of a night. These folks need it more than I do.

I've flirted with a 500 Fargo but normally stay under. Good advice to bring my own tip tool.

Going to a tiny island called bohol. I've googled and there's only a couple small pool rooms, mostly see single tables at hotels and bars.
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Bohol is beautiful. You will be staying in a resort/hotel on the beach and paying a fraction of what you would here. All the hotels have good restaurants at reasonable prices. You can walk along the beach path and go from hotel to hotel and stop at any of them for a bite to eat, a drink or just to relax. You will be welcome there. All along the way on your walk people will be selling souvenirs and other stuff. You can bargain on prices there. Great snorkeling off shore and you can take a boat out to the good dive spots if you're into that. Gorgeous sea life there, and never heard of one shark attack. If a shark came close to shore there, the natives would jump in their boats and have it for dinner that night!

Yes, many hotels have a pool table, usually by the restaurant and bar (good drinks to be had there!). And they all have swimming pools to relax in if you prefer not to swim in the ocean. Water temps in the ocean there are very mild and comfortable. All this at bargain prices!

Bohol might look small but it isn't. It's only the tenth largest island in the Philippines and yet it is over 1,850 square miles in size. Compare that to Maui (729) or Oahu (529) and you'll begin to see that the Philippines is not that small. If you have time rent a motorbike (I have) and take a cruise around the interior of Bohol (must see the Chocolate Hills!). You will find many little towns full of welcoming people. You will be the only foreigner in sight! They will speak little English but that won't be a problem.
 
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FeelDaShot said:
I played there on my last trip. It's a pretty cool experience. Once they see that you're a foreigner they will be all over you trying to make a game. I think I bet 500 pesos ($10) for a race to 3 in 10-ball. Plus you have to pay the racker 50 pesos ($1). But there was no table time fee in my experience so I guess that's what the racker fee covers.

As soon as I walked in they got all excited, gave me a cue, and chose an opponent for me. It was like the whole room was involved in our game. Even the guys on the side would be betting for or against me and would cheer me on. Then they switched opponents on me a few times to make it more fair depending on the result.

I will say however, don't go into the room expecting to leave with any money. Not because they are necessarily going to be better than you. They will find you a fairly even match but the atmosphere there is very different so it's hard to get comfortable. These guys are also living in that room 24/7 gambling all day to survive so they are very comfortable. But this is their job so if they don't win, they don't eat. Plus the bet is a lot to them and they are usually being backed. So there's much more pressure on them to perform. But they are all working together (the ref, the room owner, the backer, etc.) to win your money. If the match is close they will probably cheat you on a few close calls and end up winning. That's just the way it goes. Just consider the bet a donation and chalk it up to a good experience. Trust me, they will find a way to win. Maybe not the first few sets but they will eventually get you.

Also, I was in a very remote area so it wasn't easy to find a pool hall. Outside of the poolhall, pretty much everyone I met didn't play pool. They were much more into basketball, which is odd because the average height is 5'-1" lol. So pool is not as popular there as it may seem. At least where I visited. I'm sure the experience in the big cities are going to be much different too. Good luck!
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Pretty accurate there. I did get out with the money many times, but I had to outsmart them to do it. Most of them know little to nothing about One Pocket and I had to teach a few young guns the simple game of Bank Pool. They are eager students and feel they can learn any game quickly. But sometimes it is not quick enough ;). Basketball is their favorite street game and if you look closely they play with a smaller diameter basket. Why I don't know. Volleyball is another Filipino favorite and you will often see chess being played as well. No football and no baseball, but they do like to play golf for the ones who can afford it.
 
Recently there has been a "Pool Renaissance" in the Philippines, at least in the capital of Metro Manila, several new fully airconditioned pool halls have just opened, Gutson, Magician, Sharks Arena, VIP and the latest one is SKY J with 28 tables, rates is about 4-8 USD for an hour, pretty sure there are others pools halls that have opened that I am not aware about. These pool halls are within a 30km radius.

The "experience" describe in other post in this thread are pretty accurate for the smaller non-airconditioned pools halls with less than 5 tables, but once you go to the pool halls mentioned above, it is a totally different experience.
 
Thanks jay. I'd love to golf there too, but I likely won't have time and I didn't see any real courses where I'm going.

Any useful phrases in tagalog that would help?
 
jay helfert said:
Pretty accurate there. I did get out with the money many times, but I had to outsmart them to do it. Most of them know little to nothing about One Pocket and I had to teach a few young guns the simple game of Bank Pool. They are eager students and feel they can learn any game quickly. But sometimes it is not quick enough ;). Basketball is their favorite street game and if you look closely they play with a smaller diameter basket. Why I don't know. Volleyball is another Filipino favorite and you will often see chess being played as well. No football and no baseball, but they do like to play golf for the ones who can afford it.
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Don’t forget badminton.
 
galipeau said:
Thanks jay. I'd love to golf there too, but I likely won't have time and I didn't see any real courses where I'm going.

Any useful phrases in tagalog that would help?
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Comesta - hello. Salamat po - thank you. Mahal kita - I love you. O,o - Yes, okay. Halika - come here. Talega - really. Mabuhay - Your welcome. CR - Bathroom. Tubig - water. ONLY drink bottled water there, or if a nice restaurant ask if the water is filtered. NEVER drink tap water anywhere in the Philippines!
 
Rimfirejunkie said:
It’s bisayan on bohol
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There are five major dialects in the Philippines with Tagalog being the most prominent national language. There are over 170 local dialects spoken on different islands. On some smaller islands they only speak in their own dialect and do not use Tagolog.
 
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